The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant penstemon is to use the USDA zone info for Lafayette.

Planting Calendar for Penstemon

Frost tolerance for penstemon:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Penstemon do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant penstemon in Lafayette is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant penstemon and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your penstemon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your penstemon indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lafayette the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lafayette may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lafayette last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your penstemon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lafayette

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Lafayette

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lafayette.